Initiative 1033

If Bruce took a paycut, maybe you wouldn't have to worry about this in the first place.

Bruce Shepard makes $300k/pa. WWU's budget is close to $200m/pa. Even if he worked for free he wouldn't make a dent in the deficit. Lay off the pointless name-calling and scapegoating.

Agreed. 

What gets people the most riled up about this or any issue is when they can focus their own shortcomings and problems onto one person who is not themselves, and this is a prime example of that.

I heard Bruce makes more than our previous (female) president did. Any truth to that? If so... why?

Cause this is AMERICA.

 pwnd

Bruce:Karen

300k:225k

1:0.75

Obviously a male chauvinistic conspiracy. O_O

Or it might be because you need to offer someone a hgher salary than they had before for them to consider relocating their entire family, and base of political support, halfway across the continent.

A spending cut is a spending cut. Maybe its about time WWU learned how to take one.

You seem to have missed a literal year's worth of discussion everywhere on how to do it.

That's why we don't have a football team. Didn't you notice?

If there were any serious discussion that actually impacted the way Western spends money positively, why would we be having this conversation in the first place?

See, now you're just insulting the immense amount of hard work that hundreds of people put in over the last 12 months to keep Western running smoothly with such a massive reduction in funding.

If there is still a problem, there is still a problem. Does real life insult you too? 

I agree that its a super serious issue that needs to be addressed but I don't feel like you need to mock all the people that have been doing their best to address it by saying that no "serious discussion" has taken place.

Back to the point: I do think that the AS should have a stance on Initiative 1033 as well as all other legislation that can directly or indirectly affect the University or the student body. That's one of the reasons I joined the AS Legislative Affairs Council.

I agree that the AS should take action against this bill. If the state cuts spending that means that there will be cuts to everyone's financial aid; people who could only get by with the money will go penniless and the same goes for everyone who receives state or school financial aid. The AS represents the students and i definitely agree that they should be out there fighting against this initiative made by a bunch of old codgers who don't have to worry about going to school as their own pockets are filled enough to guarantee their children a spot in a Uni.

Another Eyman Initiative.

Another measure where the man behind the writing doesn't ever think about the impact his tax cut bills have on the community at large, only on his own pocket book.

I think AS would do well to take action on an Initiative that will cut down much needed public services like schools. The schools have already had to make so many cuts, why injure them further by passing this initiative?

Adam Smith argued for public funding of education in tWoN.

How dare Republicans go against the Holy Teachings of St. Adam Smith, whose every Word is Truth? Blasphemers!

Education is quite possibly the worst thing you can cut in a state or federal budget, yet it's all too common the first to suffer... What a topsy-turvy world...

Of course; we cut public education so that future generations don't get the education necessary to remove the cuts and make future generations smarter; instead making their own pockets thicker. People need to realize that taxes get things done. Without taxes public education goes to the dumps. Public parks goes to the dumps. Police and Fire Departments goes to the dumps. Roads are left with potholes and parks are left with waste. Everything we take for granted is paid for by taxes; but Republicans especially seem to think that we should cut them so that we can keep more of the money you earn. While I'm all for some more regulation on how our government spends our money, I am against measures to cut back taxes; I kinda like having nice things in my state.

Its sad that no one ever reads bills.

Section two: Item one

The growth rate of state government general fund revenue, not  including new voter-approved revenue, must be limited to inflation and polulation growth. As provided in subsection (8) of this section, any revenues received above this limit must be deposited into a new account hereby created called the "Lower State Property Taxes Account." All revenues received during a year which are deposited in this account must be used to reduce the subsequent year's state property tax levy as provided in section 3 of this act.

Exactly. It is a state-wide freeze on funding increases. It definitely affects Western and the student body. If I understand it correctly it means that the state could not increase funding for 4-year universities (which is something that NEEDS to happen since the state funds less than half of Western's operating budget). The only way a budget increase could happen is if it is "voter-approved" which translates into "funding increases won't happen because they'll be slow, expensive, and a pain in the ass."

I am sure it'll pass because people are rable rable rabling' all over about property tax. It's so bad, levys aren't being passed to fund public k-12 schools. However, it doesn't really sound like it's going to do alot to help property taxes.

People will jump on this ref.

Tax-reduction, in any form = sticking it to Obama and the rest of the democrats, maintaining the values of the constitution, and honoring the will of Glenn Beck and O'reily whom they feel are the only persons looking out for their best interests.

The Woodring College of Education is one of the most-respected teacher education programs in the west. Though I definitely have a significant bias (as a student of said program), I believe that WWU likes to be known as a place where successful teachers get their degrees. One effect of the budget cuts inflicted by Initiative 1033 would be a decrease in the number of teachers hired, which directly leads to an increase in class sizes throughout the state. This June, I'm going to be applying in every district feasible in order to secure a teaching job for myself for the coming year. Imagine how much more difficult it will be for me (and my cohorts) to find a job if districts aren't hiring at all, but rather firing hard-working teachers that already have put in years of service! NOT ONLY THIS, but if I DO happen to get a job, my class will likely have 30+ students in it, while most teachers agree that a class size of 20-25 is important in order for all students to learn effectively. Voting NO on I-1033 not only supports the brilliant and well-educated teachers in our state, but also Washington's young learners.

I support the Associated Students' choice to vote NO on I-1033, and hope that it reaches the eyes and ears of many other able voters at WWU.

Hello,

I want to thank everyone for their input on this matter and hope that you can continue your passionate discussion of state politics and issues. I also wanted to keep you informed on this process as a whole. Last Wednesday the AS Board of Directors decided to encourage students to carefully consider Initiative 1033. The full language of the resolution is available in this week's AS Review.

Many of you seem very passionate about legislative issues that are facing students. It is a part of my job to gather student input and to help students interested in these issues to get invovled. There are a lot of ways to take those opinions about the proper role of the state government and turn it into action. The first of which is joining one of the AS committees dedicated to legislative issues. As Jamin mentioned earlier you can join the Legislative Affairs Council (LAC), which sets a legislative agenda for the Associated Students and helps to organize students to take action on political issues. There is also the Legislative Action Fund Committee (LAF) that sets a budget and allocates funds from the $2 donation fee. Anyone can join either of these committees, LAC meets on Tuesdays from 4-5:30 and LAF meets every other Monday from 4-5. If you are interested in joining please fill out the eform at this link http://as.wwu.edu/student-government/committee-info/as-committees/.

Outside of committees there are other groups that you can join. The Washington Student Association (WSA) is the statewide organization dedicated to representing students to the legislature. There is going to be an informational meeting of the WSA at 6pm on Thursday October 22nd in Viking Union 567.

If you have any questions about how to get invovled please contact me at asvp.gov@wwu.edu.

thanks for all your input!!

Unless the AS has 501 (c) 4 status (as opposed to 501 (c) 3) they will lose their status, be liable for taxation during the year status was lost and have to wait a penalty period before reapplying for status.  That would be a catastrophic outcome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29#501.28c.29.284.29

I was speaking with family this weekend -- one of whom (Cindy) works with WWU elected students -- she said that alternative methods are being considered to draw attention to the Eyman initiative.  Particularly urging students to educate themselves about the possible outcomes.

My sister -- who's interning at NARAL in Seattle -- said that many other non-profits with lobbying wings are mobilizing to a tremendous degree. They've also been conducting polling and while the iniative is doing well, Eyman is doing poorly.  Hence, referring to it as Eyman's initiative as opposed to I-1033.

Ultimately, what really needs to happen is a conccerted effort at education on the real impact the initiative would cause.  Us as students would experience reduced quality, higher class sizes, less extra-curricular activies, less sports, less art, and higher tuition.  As Tony the Tiger says, Grrrreeeaaat!

There really is nothing else to say....he's just a dickhead. This is a horrible idea and it's whole aim is to make Tim Eyman look better to bitter people that think they shouldn't have to pay for anything. Even after they've taken advantage of public services. We need public funding to help the public good and I think everyone should take a stance on that.

The measure doesn't explicitly cut funding to schools, though it would likely have that effect. It puts all tax increases to referendum. If you want to increase taxes for schools, then you should go out and support them when they go to referendum, otherwise we are the mercy of the state legislature, which will probably continue to use the opportunity to raise taxes and levy for all sorts of things we don't want. I would like to vote those tax increases down, because it seems to me writing to you're congressman doesn't work. I will vote for 1033 and when referendums for increasing spending for schools come around, i may vote for them, but i expect the state legislature to cut frivolous spending in order to find the funds first. If the tax payers aren't able to hold them accountable in this fasion, i believe they will vote without the slightest consideration for my interests at heart.

The professors formed a union a few years back.  It was a long road to getting one, but they finally did.  However, they care enough about their jobs and their duty as educators that they were prepared to defer the pay raises that they had negotiated, pay raises that were rightfully theirs.

That said, the University picked a rather odd time to decide to renovate Miller Hall and the Chemistry Building, particularly the Chemistry Building, since by rights it should have been renovated about a decade ago.  Not to mention the fact that the University may have overpaid for the renovations being done.  However, the renovations needed to be done, and were not done years ago, so they have to be done now.

I think I understand what you're driving at, that the university should learn to economize.  I am merely pointing out that it isn't easy to do so.  One thing that I hope happens in the future is that the university closes out its contract with Sodexho and starts producing food itself.  It couldn't be any worse, and would probably be substantially better, both in terms of food costs and the healthfulness of the food.  Also, in my view, a recession is precisely the worst time to make cuts in funding to education.  If anything, it is an excellent time to expand it.

I would also like to disabuse people of the notion that it's a good idea to put up every tax increase for a public vote.  This is not a good idea; it may work well in Switzerland, but Switzerland is a country with a better notion of civic duty and civic education than our own.  What it effectively means is that every appropriations bill, every spending increase, must be subject to a plebiscite.  This is patently absurd.  Most of these spending increases are matters of routine.  To waste the public's time with arguing over the merits of spending a few dollars more to put new textbooks in classrooms is foolish, particularly considering all the money spent on the for and against campaigns would have paid for the new textbooks many times over.

Now, I would like it very much if people could be depended on to do these things.  I wish that the town meeting structure of government had survived and spread beyond New England.  If I have my way, it will be revived.  However, at the present moment, it is not what we're using, and I'd rather have an elected legislative body voting on spending increases than put them all up for a public vote every year.  It is a truth of human nature to want all the goodies and to not have to pay for them.  If you really want to fix our state's unfair tax system, I suggest you start by repealing the sales tax, substantially lowering or eliminating the B&O tax, and replacing them with a modest income tax and a split property tax that assesses improvements at a lower rate than the land itself.  The sales tax is the most regressive tax in history, and the B&O tax is nearly as bad.  The one stifles commerce by imposing more costs at the point of sale, and the other is a burden on businessmen, particularly the owners of small businesses who can ill afford to pay for the right to operate their own business.

And if there were any doubt that legislative restrictions on raising taxes are a bad idea, I present California as Exhibit A.  Until the late 1970s, California was where everyone wanted to live, and its public schools were the pride of the state.  And then Proposition 13 came along, and in a moment of selfish pique, the state's voters passed it.  The upshot was that any increase in taxes had to approved by a 60% majority in the legislature.  The result has been declining state revenues ever since then, and a corresponding decline in the quality of education and public services.

Putting budget increases to a popular vote is a horrible idea. It stalls decision making and puts tax spending decisions in the hands of people that shouldn't necessarily have the power to make those decisions.

PS: I am sure you know this, but the renovations/additions to campus are being funded from an entirely seperate budget than the university's operating budget (state capital appropriations), so asking "Why are we spending so much money when we just had our budget cut?" is really a misleading question.

PPS: From what I have heard, the reason that Western has not moved away from Sodexho and started it's own food service is because of the insurance/liability issue. The cost of insurance to run a food service division would entirely negate any savings it would bring.